Scientists discover 2 million new plankton species – on a 2.5 year ocean voyage

A team of scientists spent 2.5 years traveling the oceans, over 70,000 miles, and came back with a startling discovery. There was once thought to be 30,000 species of plankton but they discovered more than 2 million species. The diversity, and strangeness, is astounding. One species combines together to form a chain 40 meters long …

International Space Station has a Large Hadron Collider – and it’s collected 18 billion cosmic rays

The largest-ever experiment in space has reported the collection of some 18 billion “cosmic ray” events that may help unravel the Universe’s mysteries. Run from a centre at Cern, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) aims to spot dark matter and exotic antimatter. At the heart of the seven-tonne, $2bn machine is a giant, specially designed …

Internet connected cars is the 3rd fastest growing technology (after smartphones, tablets)

The real question is who will pay for internet access in our cars. Will this be another charge on our cell phone or cable bill, like getting 3G on an iPad is?   “Intel claims that the connected car is the third-fastest growing technological device, following smartphones and tablets. For a car maker that offers …

In the United Kingdom texting is now more popular than making phone calls

People in the UK are now more likely to text than to make a phone call, according to new research from Ofcom. While 58% of people communicated via texts on a daily basis in 2011, only 47% made a daily mobile call, said the country’s communications industry regulator. It said the shift away from traditional …

Where are you on global pay scale?

Do you earn more or less than the world’s average wage? World average monthly wage: $1,480 Luxembourg – $4,089 United States – $3,263 Canada – $2,724 Germany – $2,720 China – $656 The average wage, calculated by the International Labour Organization, is published here for the first time. It’s a rough figure based on data …

Season 2 of Sherlock from BBC – watch online free until June 19

The dynamic, if dysfunctional duo of Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch, War Horse) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman, The Hobbit), battles the worst of 21st- century London, including a tech savvy arch-villain who wants to rule the world and a hound from the hinges of Hell. Season 2 episodes: A Scandal in Belgravia The Hounds of Baskerville …

Sir Jonathan Ive – Apple’s chief designer is knighted

Jonathan Ive – the British designer responsible for Apple’s iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad – has been knighted at Buckingham Palace. The 45-year-old said the investiture in front of the Princess Royal was “really thrilling and particularly humbling”. Now based in the US, Apple’s senior vice-president of industrial design flew in to the UK with …

London Olympics this summer, 2012 – every event will be livestreamed on web and mobile

NBC has partnered with YouTube to provide its video player and livestreaming infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Part of its strategy is to broadcast every live event in some form, showing more than 3,600 hours of Olympic coverage…using (the YouTube) player to deliver livestreams on NBCOlympics.com. “We’ll also include replays of Web-exclusive events, all television broadcasts, interviews with …

Our natural sleeping pattern is two four hours periods, with 1-2 hours of leisure in-between

In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted an experiment in which a group of people were plunged into darkness for 14 hours every day for a month. It took some time for their sleep to regulate but by the fourth week the subjects had settled into a very distinct sleeping pattern. They slept first …